words with thoughts: blogging by a nerd author

​I went to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and I loved it, and anything I love I immediately relate to Shakespeare. Here are my suggestions for the Shakespearean counterparts of some of the main TLJ characters.​​Rey – Prince Hal/Henry V from Henry IV pts 1 + 2, Henry V. Rey is the hero of her epic saga, as Hal is for his. She wasn’t always a hero type, but like Hal, her life changes abruptly, and now she’s becoming “like the sun,” and taking on great responsibility. As we find out in TLJ, there is darkness and light inside of her, like Prince Hal struggles with. She’s also quickly becoming a skilled warrior, and a leader who must learn to bear the loneliness and burden of her power.

Finn – Horatio from Hamlet. Like Horatio, Finn is a fiercely loyal friend and ally. As Horatio does for Hamlet, Finn passionately supports his heroes in both films, Rey and Rose, in their major arcs and battles. Horatio can also see the corruption in Denmark, and doesn’t trust the monarchy, as Finn can and doesn’t with The First Order. Lastly, Horatio’s super gay, and I’m leaving that door open for Finn in the third movie. Rooting for you, JJ Abrams.

Rose Tico – Viola from Twelfth Night. Like Viola, Rose’s sister dies, and she deals with grief by setting off an adventure and transforming herself. Viola has a lot of compassion, and so does Rose, as we see with the amazing furry fathiers that she frees. Also Rose falls for her friend, like Viola falls for Duke Orsino. Lastly, Viola is a notoriously eloquent speaker, and Kelly Marie Tran delivered some of the most beautiful, quotable lines in TLJ.

Kylo Ren – Prospero from The Tempest. Like Prospero, Kylo has light and darkness and conflict within him, and he has been wronged in the past. His tendencies veer toward revenge; however, influenced by someone who seems to care about him, the good in him seems potentially salvageable. Also, his force powers tend to be about controlling and hurting people, as Prospero’s magic is. It’s unclear whether Prospero, too, has fantastic, long, windswept hair, but he lives on an island and probably doesn’t have scissors, so we could make that leap for the sake of the argument.

Poe Dameron – Caius Martius/Coriolanus from Coriolanus. Like Coriolanus, Poe is a fierce soldier on the battlefield, and actions (explosions) make sense to him. But also like Coriolanus, Poe isn’t adept at leading, largely because he has a hard time listening to Holdo and valuing what she brings to the operation. And no, it’s no coincidence that I’ve also chosen a character for Poe who is also pretty gay. Thanks, Oscar Isaac!

Snoke – Richard III from Richard III. Like Richard, Snoke's view of himself and his abilities is distorted by his ego. He thinks he has control of his followers, when in reality, he alienates and underestimates them. Like Richard, Snoke thinks he can perceive more about humanity than he can, and that is his undoing. His assumption that he knows Kylo Ren’s entire mind gets him sliced in half. He should’ve been running the minute Rey showed up. A fathier, a fathier! My galaxy for a fathier!

Leia Organa – Queen Titania from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Titania’s royal power, her biting wit, her surrounding of loyal followers all match up with General Organa. Titania has a fighting spirit (the actor playing her is often double cast as the Amazon warrior Hyppolita) and fiercely loves her chosen family. Titania’s also magical, and as we saw in TLJ, the force is strong with Leia. Also, Han works as either Oberon (metaphorical ass) or Bottom (literal ass). 'cause Han is kind of an ass, right?

Luke Skywalker – Bolingbroke from Richard II/ Henry IV pts 1 + 2. Like Bolingbroke, Luke dethroned and killed an important figure in his life. Bolingbroke goes onto become King Henry IV, but he’s crippled by guilt for much of the remainder of his life. In TLJ, we see Luke suffers similarly – though Luke saw the enormous danger in Kylo Ren, as Bolingbroke sees in King Richard, neither one can recover from taking the “low road,” and fighting fire with fire.

"It’s unclear whether Prospero, too, has fantastic, long, windswept hair, but he lives on an island and probably doesn’t have scissors, so we could make that leap for the sake of the argument."
Love that you found something to admire in Kylo!